Yadel Marti and Yasser Gomez have Major League Aspirations

Yadel Marti and Yasser Gomez are major league talented players who defected from Cuba in hopes of playing for a MLB team in the near future. Both players are represented by Agent Jaime Torres, who also represents Jose Contreras and Alexei Ramirez of the Chicago White Sox and Yuniesky Betancourt of the Seattle Mariners. Gomez and Marti were kicked off the 2009 Cuban World Baseball Classic squad for attempting to defect from Cuba and both were banned from Cuba’s top league team. Marti is a highly touted pitcher who pitched in the 2006 World Baseball Classic for Cuba where he went 1-0 with 2 saves while pitching 12.2 innings striking out 11 and carried an ERA of 0.00 while being named to the all-tournament team. Gomez is a speedy outfielder who debuted for the Cuban national team at the age of 19 and won rookie of the year in 1997 with his league team the Industriales. In his rookie season he hit .394, scored 51 runs and drove in 41 runs in only 66 games, his career average for the Industriales is .331.

While both players are not young in terms of baseball with Gomez at the age of 28 and Marti, 29, they will not be traditional rookies. Marti seems to be the better prospect of the two based on actually competing against top-level talent and having success. But Gomez has a skill set that most teams now covet which is speed and athleticism. Both have said they want to play for any Major League team but they specifically mentioned the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and Chicago White Sox. The Yankees and Red Sox are obvious destinations for foreign players because those franchises are known worldwide. The White Sox have recently made a name for themselves in Cuba with the success of Contreras in 2005, the emergence of Ramirez last season, and the signing of Dayan Viciedo this past winter. All three of those players are represented by Torres so it makes sense that Marti and Gomez would mention the White Sox specifically. It will be interesting to see where these players sign and if they sign together or go their separate ways.